Oh Baby!
by jda
Summary: Sara learns about the complexities of being a mother.
1. Unexpected News

Disclaimer: the standard disclaimer, I don't own anything in this story, not the characters (except Madeline), I don't own the show (although that would be fun), and you probably could guess the rest.  
  
Summery: Sara has a baby to look after. And knowing Sara, she's not very good with people.  
  
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"Grissom," Sara asked, as she leaned against his doorframe, "do you think that you can do without me for this shift? Something came up and I have to attend to it now."  
  
"That depends," came Grissom's muffled reply.  
  
"On what?"  
  
"Whether it's a personal matter that could be life or death, or if it's a personal matter that you just haven't gotten to."  
  
"A little of both, actually," Sara replied.  
  
"Sara, can you stop beating around the bush and tell me exactly why you need to take this shift off?"  
  
Sara stopped leaning against the doorframe and started rocking gently back and forth from foot to foot. "Um, well, you see, it's sort of complicated," she began, "But do you remember Alison Carmichael from my university days?"  
  
"Yeah, she was your best friend if I remember correctly."  
  
"Yeah. She and her husband moved here, to Vegas a couple of years ago. They have a baby now, about four months."  
  
"Sara, you're beating around the bush again."  
  
Sara ducked her head in embarrassment. "Remember that traffic accident a few weeks back? Driver, Caucasian male killed at the scene, passenger, Caucasian female severely injured, baby back seat, unharmed?" When Grissom nodded his head, Sara continued. "That was the Carmichael family. I wasn't working the case, so I didn't know about this until about two weeks ago when Alison called me from her hospital room. She just died today, maybe an hour ago."  
  
Grissom was starting to catch on. "What about the baby, it was uninjured in the crash, right?"  
  
"Yeah, you see, Alison added something to her will yesterday with her lawyer and two witnesses, and so it's all legal. She made me her daughter, Madeline's, legal guardian."  
  
"Doesn't she have family?"  
  
"Yeah, but I guess she was looking out for her baby's best interests. I was the closest, and I did promise her that if anything happened, I'd take care of Madeline. I thought that I was just comforting her! I never thought she would die! I mean she was recovering." Tears started sliding down Sara's face.  
  
Grissom, at a loss as to what to do, tried comforting the distraught woman, saying, "Maybe she was staying alive until she knew that someone could take care of Madeline." Sara nodded mutely. "Okay," Grissom continued, "I can't really spare you tonight, this case is too hot, but if you think you can survive paperwork, you can bring the baby with you."  
  
"Thanks, Grissom," Sara said as she walked down the hallway, shoulders slumped by grief and defeat.  
  
No sooner than Sara had walked out of his office did Nick walk in. "Boss, have you seen Sara? I could have sworn I saw her here."  
  
"She's got something to do. You're going to have to finish up your case solo. How close are you to closing it?"  
  
Nick raised an eyebrow at Grissom's statement. He had never been given a murder investigation to do, or even finish by himself before. Heck, even Sara got to work one solo before he did. Answering Grissom's question, he said, "Really close. I just need Greg's confirmation of the DNA to get an arrest warrant."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Uh, Grissom," Nick asked, "Where'd Sara go?"  
  
"To get a baby." Grissom said no more as he turned and walked out the door, leaving a very confused Nick to ponder his meaning before he decided to forget about it and follow his boss down the hallway.  
  
*********************************************  
  
"Are you Sara Sidle?" the nurse asked suspiciously.  
  
"Yeah, do you want some identification?"  
  
"Sure, that would help. What took you so long?"  
  
Seeing as the nurse was getting irritated, perhaps by her long shift, Sara answered promptly. "I had to clear it with my boss before I left. And I didn't know that I had become Madeline Carmichael's legal guardian until about an hour ago, when Alice died." At the same time, she pulled out her driver's license and her CSI identification.  
  
The nurse looked at the two piece of information carefully, every so often looking up at Sara to confirm a certain detail. "Okay, you look like that same person. You mind if I called your boss to make sure that he knows about all this?"  
  
"Sure. You're really tight about security aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I've been compared to Fort Knox. But you would be too, if you were in charge of making sure every baby is given to the right caregiver. We lose a lot of parents."  
  
"I know."  
  
The nurse turned around toward the nurse's desk and dialed the number for the Las Vegas crime lab. "Hello? Yes, I would like to be forwarded to a Mr. Gil Grissom," she said crisply, like she had said the exact same lines millions of times before. "Mr. Grissom? Ann Hallaway, from County General? Yes, I have a young woman here who says that she's Sara Sidle." There was a pause. "Oh, yes, I see, so she did tell you about the child. Alright, that's all I called to find out. Thank you for your time. Goodbye."  
  
"Okay, your story checks out. Let's get you to the munchkin," Ann said, turning to face Sara once more. Beckoning her to follow, Ann walked down the hallway so briskly, Sara was jogging to catch up.  
  
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What do you think?? I'm going to do a few more chapters (I doubt it will be as long as my other story, "Infinite Possibilities", though)  
  
Please review!!! 


	2. Taking Baby Home

"Is there any way to borrow a baby carrier?" Sara asked as she and the 'Fort Knox' nurse continued down the corridors.  
  
"Why?" the nurse demanded, completely bewildered.  
  
"Like I said," Sara explained, "I didn't know I was going to be Madeline's guardian until an hour ago, and most of that time was spent trying to get permission to leave work, and talking to executors of estates. Lawyers don't talk concisely, you know."  
  
"Do I ever! They seem to ramble on and on forever until the end of time!" the nurse responded, a little more open.  
  
"I guess you deal with a lot of lawyers, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, almost one a day, as of right now."  
  
"Wow!"  
  
"Okay, turn left," the nurse instructed. "There's our nursery. Aren't they cute?"  
  
"Okay, you weren't kidding about the Fort Knox thing. I'm surprised you don't have armed guards!" Sara joked.  
  
"Well, I did try for guards, but the administration said that it was overstepping the bounds of the First Amendment."  
  
"Oh," was all that Sara could come up with.  
  
"Actually," the nurse continued, "Little Madeline has been staying in her mother's room for most of her stay, but they moved her yesterday, because Mrs. Carmichael was getting worse."  
  
"Yeah, I remember her always being in there," Sara replied.  
  
"Oh, really? That's nice. Okay, you'll have to sit tight and stay here. I'm going to get her." Sara nodded her agreement.  
  
'Aw, she is soo cute!' she thought as the nurse picked up a sleeping Madeline gently and walked her through the door.  
  
"Here you go, Ms. Sidle. Now if you will come to my office, I can have the papers filled out and you're free to take her home." Ann slowly deposited the baby into Sara's waiting arms, and waited for a response. Madeline shifted a little, frowned a bit, and then settled in comfortably with a small sigh.  
  
"Um, there could be a problem with that, Ann," Sara replied a bit uncertainly.  
  
"Of course you can call me Ann!" she replied, sensing Sara's embarrassment. "But what do you mean there's a problem?"  
  
"The baby carrier. And I refuse to take her anywhere in anything but a safe carrier."  
  
"Oh, that could be a problem. You don't have any friends who could lend you one, just to take her home?"  
  
"Um. . . Yes!" Sara cried, suddenly remembering Catherine. Madeline stirred, disturbed by the noise. "Oops, I forgot I was holding a baby."  
  
Ann smiled. 'She's just like a new mother,' she thought. "That's quite all right, I think everyone who holds a baby for the first time does that."  
  
Sara stood in the middle of the office, as though she were trying to decide what to do next. "Do you mind if I use your phone? I can't reach my cell."  
  
"Be my guest."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Catherine had just entered the CSI building a few minutes late when her phone rang. 'Great,' she thought, 'Grissom is going to be demanding to know where I am.' "Hello?" she asked irritably, "Sara? Aren't you working tonight? Wait, did Grissom tell you to call me? No? Sara, what are you calling me for, then?"  
  
"Cath, if you find Grissom, I'll call him right now and ask him to meet up with you."  
  
"Okay. Tell him I'll be moving in the direction of the break room if he isn't already there."  
  
"Got it." Sara hung up.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Grissom?"  
  
"Speaking. Who is this? Sara?" Grissom wondered as he looked at his watch. 'Wow, that was fast,' he thought.  
  
"Yeah, um, Catherine is looking for you by the break room. I thought that since you know why I'm not there, you could let her go home again and pick up Lindsay's old baby carrier."  
  
"Oh. You don't have a baby carrier?"  
  
"No, Grissom, it's not like I was planning to have a baby anytime in the near future."  
  
"Sorry. Okay, I see Catherine. Do you want to stay on the line?"  
  
"Sure, just don't take too long."  
  
Grissom decidedly walked up to Catherine. "Catherine," he began, "I'm guessing Sara called you?"  
  
The blond nodded. "Yes, she did, but she didn't tell me anything in particular."  
  
Grissom too nodded and launched into an abridged version of Sara's story regarding the baby. "So, she needs a baby carrier, and she hopes that you still have Lindsay's. Isn't that right, Sara?" he directed his question to the woman on the phone.  
  
"Yeah," she replied.  
  
"Hmmm. . . okay, I remember where I put Lindsay's old carrier. You can use it if you want for as long as you need, Sara. So you want me to pick you up from the hospital?" Catherine asked.  
  
"No, that's okay, you can go straight to the admissions desk and leave it there and I'll get it. That way, you don't have to miss work."  
  
"That sounds like the Sara I know," Catherine teased, "Always thinking about work. Okay, so the admissions desk? Got it. I'll be there in about twenty minutes."  
  
Grissom gave her a puzzled look. "It takes you about five minutes to get home and about another five to get to the hospital. I don't think it's going to take you ten minutes to get that carrier out."  
  
"Well, considering Sara has a new addition she wasn't expecting, I was also going to get the crib out from storage. That's going to take at least ten minutes," Catherine replied matter-of-factly.  
  
Grissom was impressed. "See, Cath, I knew there was a reason why I loved you."  
  
She blushed. "Get back to work," she replied.  
  
***********************************  
  
'Where was Catherine going?' Sara wondered, 'It only takes ten minutes to get from CSI to the hospital and about two seconds to pull a baby carrier out of the closet.'  
  
She had been waiting by the admissions desk for about fifteen minutes. Sara was beginning to get uncomfortable with the attention the desk clerk was giving her. 'Like I'd stand around after I steal a baby,' she thought. She hated, more than anything else, to be scrutinized.  
  
Finally an all-to-familiar Tahoe pulled into a space outside the door and put it's temporary blinkers on. Catherine came running out. "Sorry," she panted slightly, "but it took longer than I thought to get the crib out of storage." She said this all as she was entering the door and handed Sara the baby carrier.  
  
"Crib?"  
  
"Yeah, I figured you would need one."  
  
"Cath, thanks!" Sara exclaimed as she hugged the other woman. Catherine was surprised, since Sara rarely showed affection, and was deeply touched.  
  
"It's okay. I'll see you back at CSI?"  
  
"Yeah, I don't want you to get towed for illegal parking," Sara replied.  
  
"I know. Me neither."  
  
As Catherine walked out the doors, Sara looked down at the little sleeping bundle in her arms and said, "I guess now all I have to do is figure out how to strap you into this thing." Madeline yawned in agreement.  
  
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What should have been a ten-minute drive for Sara turned into half an hour. Since she wasn't accustomed to having a back seat baby, every time Madeline got scared and subsequently cried, Sara would pull over and comfort her. It took less than ten seconds for Madeline to calm down again, but she was frightened of all the new, harsh city sounds as opposed to her tranquil nursery. And she became frightened every couple of blocks or so.  
  
Finally Sara pushed open the doors of the CSI building. Looking down at the sleeping form in the baby carrier, she said, "This is where I work, Maddie. Let's go find Grissom and get that paper work. You be good, now. Promise?" She had to smile to herself. 'Since when do I practically start talking to myself?' she thought.  
  
Sara heard voices coming from the break room and decided that Grissom must be there as well. She was greeted by a wall of sound. Loud sounds. "Sara!? What the heck!?" Nick cried out when he saw the baby.  
  
"Oh my god! Sara's got a baby!" Warrick yelled at the same time.  
  
"I never saw you pregnant!" Greg also exclaimed.  
  
"You guys! Be quiet!" Catherine called urgently, knowing that the little girl would awaken soon.  
  
She was right. Madeline wailed. "Maddie," Sara began as she picked the screaming girl up, "I'd like you to meet your new CSI family."  
  
"What did I miss?" Grissom asked as he walked into the now noisy room.  
  
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ta da! As you can all see, Sara is my favourite character and I thought it would be fun to put her in a position like that.  
  
I'm trying to see if I can make this a no shippage piece, just so I can be a little different from the other people who have Sara get an instant family like the person who did "Independence Day" (it's a really good story, I think you should read it if you can find it.)  
  
Please review! 


	3. Doubting Sara

Thanks for everyone who reviewed already!  
  
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"What do you say we take a walk around?" Sara asked Maddie, as she had come to call the child. Madeline responded by waving her small arms in the air. "I'll take that as a 'yes, I want to go around'. Come on baby." Sara was starting to get the hang of picking Maddie up without worrying about hurting her every time she did.  
  
"Hey, Sara, why aren't you in the office doing paperwork?" Nick teased as she passed one of the layout rooms.  
  
"Because, my brain would have exploded if I had to look at another sheet again. And besides, it's been a week, and Maddie hasn't seen the rest of the lab," she replied.  
  
Nick walked out and came face to face with Sara. "Hey Maddie," he cooed, "How are you today?" His answer came in the way of a punch to the nose by a tiny fist. "Okay, so you don't like me," Nick reasoned.  
  
"No, she likes you. That's the way she shows affection: by inflicting bodily harm. She's done that to everyone who comes close enough to her to do that. She's even started pulling Warrick's hair, and won't let go whenever he carries her. Consider yourself lucky, Nicky."  
  
"That explains why my man suddenly started avoiding Maddie," Nick realized.  
  
"Yeah, he's hoping that she grows out of it soon, so he can carry her again."  
  
"Good luck."  
  
"I know. Come on Maddie, let's see what Greg is up to. Go back to work, Nick."  
  
"Yes ma'am!" came the somewhat muffled reply from the now closed layout room.  
  
Instead of going to Greg's lab, they were sidetracked by Catherine and Grissom, who were walking down the hall to meet them. "How's the little princess today?" Catherine asked as she made kissy faces at Maddie. The baby laughed with pleasure.  
  
"She's doing well, although I'm worried about her sleeping habits," Sara replied.  
  
"What do you mean?" Grissom asked.  
  
"You know how babies start to normalize their sleeping patterns?" Sara began, "They usually end up sleeping more at the same time everyday, usually night, because that's what they see their parents doing."  
  
"So what's the problem?"  
  
"She's starting to normalize to my schedule. She sleeps during the day and is awake with me all night," Sara protested.  
  
"There are worse things to have happen to a baby than to find out she's a night owl," Grissom reasoned.  
  
"You're right," Sara answered, "Would you like to hold Maddie, Grissom?" So far he had been the only person who had not attempted that.  
  
"What if I drop her?"  
  
"You won't. Anyway, by the laws of nature, you're probably going to squeeze her to death before you drop her," Catherine replied, by way of comforting the nervous man.  
  
"Okay, but don't blame me if something goes wrong," Grissom said as Sara gently transferred Maddie into his arms. Maddie squealed with delight and began tugging at Grissom's curly hair. A slow smile made its way onto his face.  
  
"Well, the only thing that could go wrong now is that your hair falls out," Sara replied, with a huge grin on her face. "You would look great as a father, Grissom."  
  
"Is that a hint?"  
  
"No, just an observation."  
  
Grissom opened his mouth to answer, but Maddie beat him to the punch. She began to wail. "What did I do?" Grissom demanded, as Sara gently pulled Maddie out of his arms.  
  
"Nothing. She's probably wet, hungry, sleepy, or a combination of the above. I'll see you guys later."  
  
"Bye." Catherine and Grissom called after her retreating form. "You know, she'd make an excellent mother," Catherine told Grissom.  
  
"So I see. Just don't tell Sara that, she'd have a fit."  
  
"Why would Sara have a fit?" Warrick asked as he rounded a corner.  
  
"She doesn't think that she's fit to be a mother," Catherine replied.  
  
"When did she tell you that?"  
  
"A couple of days ago. She's worried that our line of work is harmful to Maddie's upbringing."  
  
"Oh, yeah. Well, as long as Maddie stops pulling my hair, it should all be fine," Warrick replied, "She's just going through new mother syndrome or something."  
  
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"Tell me again why you feel that you are not a good caregiver, Ms. Sidle," the state social worker asked with concern after Sara phoned her the day before. Sara fidgeted on the couch in her living room.  
  
"Well, for one, Maddie's not sleeping at normal times."  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I work nightshifts, you know, so I sleep during the day and Maddie imitates me."  
  
"So she sleeps during the day too?" The social worker asked, documenting every response.  
  
"Yes," Sara replied.  
  
"Does that mean that you aren't aware of when she cries?"  
  
"No, I hear her when she cries, but isn't it bad for a baby to get accustomed to sleeping during the day?"  
  
"Not necessarily. You asked me to assess your fitness to be a mother to this child. As long as you are aware of her needs, it doesn't matter if she sleeps during the day," the social worker replied very calmly.  
  
"But what about when she starts school? I work at night, and there's no way that I can transfer."  
  
"She should naturally start sleeping at night by then. You have a friend who has a daughter who works the nightshift with you, too. Am I correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So what does she do?"  
  
"She leaves her daughter with her sister at nights. She offered to have Maddie stay over with the same arrangement once she starts school."  
  
"So you have a way of keeping Madeline safe at nights."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Let me ask you another question," the other woman began, "You are a crime scene investigator. Correct?"  
  
"Correct."  
  
"I know that you bring the baby with you to work, because you are afraid to leave her with someone else. What do you do when she is with you at work?"  
  
"I do paper work, and she's on the floor in a collapsible playpen beside me. If I absolutely have to go out to a crime scene because to one else can, I ask Archie, our computer tech, to watch her."  
  
"Why do you ask this specific person?"  
  
"Well, he's works in the quietest labs most of the time and he rarely has to work on something, unless it's some online fraud thing, and there aren't any harmful chemicals around in there, so I find it to be one of the safest places in the building. And I know that Archie has eight nieces and nephews ranging from newborn to three years old, so I know he knows how to handle a baby."  
  
"Alright, Miss Sidle-" the social worker was interrupted by Sara.  
  
"Can you excuse me for a moment Mrs. Delmont?"  
  
"May I ask why?"  
  
"Maddie's woken up."  
  
"I don't hear any crying. How do you know that she's woken up?"  
  
"I just get this feeling," Sara responded walking across the living room to the closed door at the end. Just as she got to her bedroom door, crying was heard.  
  
'Amazing,' the social worker thought, 'This is probably the first time I have seen anyone so connected to their baby. And this isn't even her biological daughter.'  
  
"Sorry about that," Sara said as she walked back into the living room with a groggy Maddie in her arms.  
  
"That's perfectly alright. Can I ask another question?"  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Do you plan on finding a father for this child?"  
  
"I don't know. I mean, I'm financially capable of raising her on my own, but if I find the right person, who loves Maddie, I might, just so that she can have a father figure."  
  
"I see," the woman responded as she jotted down more notes. "Well, Miss Sidle. You asked me to assess your ability to be a mother."  
  
"And. . ." Sara asked.  
  
"You are fit to be a mother. If only every child had a mother like you, the world would be a better place."  
  
"Oh. So you mean what I'm doing is acceptable?"  
  
"More than acceptable, Sara, extraordinary."  
  
"Oh. Thank you," Sara replied as she held out her hand for a handshake.  
  
"You are more than welcome. Feel free to call me again," Mrs. Delmont said with a warm smile.  
  
"Okay, Maddie," Sara said to the calm little person in her arms, "It looks like we're supposed to be a family after all."  
  
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Please review! 


	4. Unexpected Trials of Motherhood

"I might just become a lab tech," Sara complained as she and Warrick crouched down trying to mark every bit of evidence on the floor.  
  
"Why?" he asked in bewilderment.  
  
"I can't stand leaving Maddie with Archie when I get called out to crime scenes." Sara's shoulders slumped a bit when she thought of the baby that she had come to know as "her daughter".  
  
"You do realize that Archie is more paranoid than you, so she's be safe," Warrick reasoned.  
  
"I know, but that's not it."  
  
"Sara, you know, you could always take maternal leave. You'd qualify for that."  
  
"I'd go insane," Sara replied with a slight lilt of irritation in her voice, "I have to work as much as I have to see Maddie. That seems to be the suggestion of the week or something."  
  
"What? Maternal leave?"  
  
"Yeah. I thought about-" Sara's thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone going off. "Hello?"  
  
"Sara?" Archie asked tentatively over the phone. Aggravated crying could be heard faintly in the background.  
  
"Archie? What's wrong?" Sara asked with some desperation in her voice.  
  
"Does Maddie have colic?"  
  
"No. Why?"  
  
Archie sighed, "She hasn't stopped crying for the past fifteen minutes, and Grissom is ready to murder me if I don't do something about it soon."  
  
"Oh. Listen, Archie," Sara responded, "can you move the phone so I can hear Maddie cry? I can tell you what I think is bothering her."  
  
"Sure, just a second," he replied. There was some shuffling and static as Archie tried to move the phone to a better location.  
  
The wails were so loud and so intense that Sara had to move the phone away from her ear. Warrick, who was standing a good five feet away from her, winced at the shrill sound. "Okay, Archie!" she yelled, "You can move the phone away now! I get the idea!"  
  
"See why Grissom wants to murder me?" Archie responded after he did move. "Please tell me you're coming back soon!"  
  
"I'll try, but I have to talk to Warrick first. Okay? Bye." Sara hung up the phone with a decided click.  
  
"Let me guess: Maternal duty calls and there's no way you can avoid it," Warrick answered before Sara could even say anything. "Go ahead, I think we've covered all the bases here. Can you take the samples back with you, though?" Warrick answered her unasked question.  
  
"Okay, thanks. I owe you," Sara responded hurriedly as she collected the bags.  
  
"Great!" Warrick answered with a slight chuckle, "You can ask Maddie to stop pulling my hair so hard."  
  
"She doesn't listen to me!" Sara called out before slamming her car door.  
  
Five minutes later, Sara rushed into the CSI lab, quickly putting the samples collected on Greg's counter, and rushed down the hall in search of Archie, who at that time must have gone mad. When she got there, she had to laugh at the sight before her. Catherine was cradling Madeline, gently bouncing her up and down on her knee while Greg and Archie made ridiculous faces at her, causing her to scream even louder in terror, which they seemed not to notice. Nick was crouched in a corner, rifling through Sara's baby bag in the hopes of finding a toy or some other distraction, occasionally handing something to Grissom. Grissom, toy in hand, would then proceed to shake it in front of Maddie's face, confusing the infant, and rendering her silent for about two seconds before her wails picked up again. Convinced that a certain toy was not going to be of much use, Grissom would toss it to the side, more often than not hitting Greg or Archie in the head with it.  
  
After watching this comedy unfold some more for about a minute, Sara spoke up and said with a smirk, "Remind me never to ask any of you to be baby sitters ever again."  
  
A collective, "Finally!" came from the mouths of Greg and Archie. Nick stood up stiffly and demanded, "What took you so long?" Catherine and Grissom just gave her identical frazzled looks that said, "How do you do it?"  
  
"Sorry," Sara responded, "But I just had to watch this drama unfold, you know?"  
  
"No," Everyone in the room responded unanimously.  
  
Maddie, who had quieted down at the sight of her "mother", picked up where she left off and began to howl in order to become the center of attention yet again.  
  
"Look at the drama queen," Greg snickered.  
  
"Look who's talking, Your Highness, the Drama King," Sara retorted, as she picked up the screaming baby who Catherine relinquished gratefully.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Catherine demanded after Madeline didn't quiet down in her mother's arms.  
  
"She could be wet," Sara suggested.  
  
"No, just changed her diaper," Archie replied over the racket.  
  
"Oh, that explains the imaginative way it was done. She's hungry?"  
  
"No way!" Greg answered that time. "Archie gave her a bottle and she was quiet for about a second, but then she made a face and threw it!"  
  
"Sleepy?" Sara asked as she was running through all of her options.  
  
"She'd have fallen asleep from the fatigue by now," Catherine retorted gently with the experience of a mother.  
  
"Okay, I know what she wants," Sara said with a slight grimace. "Can I have an empty office or something, Grissom?"  
  
Grissom nodded slightly, wincing as the throbbing in his head increased with the movement. "You can use mine if you want."  
  
"Thanks Grissom." And with that comment, Sara hurried down the hall as quickly as possible to allow the lab techs an opportunity regain their senses after the noise they were being subjected to.  
  
The second the door closed to his office, and the wailing resembled a dull, though high pitched, roar, he turned his attention back to the lab staff. "Okay, everybody, back to work. There's nothing to see," he said. After contemplating what he had just said, Grissom corrected himself, and added, "Okay, so there's nothing to HEAR."  
  
Warrick, who had just missed the entire episode, walked into a deathly silent lab. "Is everything alright?" he asked Greg, who had just made it back to the DNA lab.  
  
"Yeah, Hurricane Madeline has been calmed down."  
  
Perplexed by the statement, Warrick just tossed the offhand comment of, "Whatever you say, man," over his shoulder and proceeded to Grissom's office to ask his opinion about an entomological piece of evidence he had found.  
  
"Hey Cath!" he called to the blond woman at the end of the perpendicular hallway. As he grasped the handle of his boss' door, he became aware of Catherine calling at him and at the same time, running at him like a crazed person.  
  
"Warrick! Don't!" Catherine called desperately, suddenly remembering that Sara and Maddie were in Grissom's office. She certainly didn't want to hear another outburst from 'Hurricane Maddie', as Greg had dubbed her. Unfortunately for her, she could not stop and ended up crashing into Warrick, who had halted his opening of the door. Her momentum carried them into the office, and sprawling onto the floor. Sara, startled by the noise, stood up and faced them, only to have Catherine's jaw fall to the floor and Warrick to turn his head away quickly. The reason for their reactions: Maddie was suckling.  
  
"Catherine, do you mind closing your mouth?" Sara asked calmly, as though her friends came crashing through the door was the most normal thing in the world. When Catherine, or Warrick for that matter, didn't respond, she continued, "I figured out a while ago that Alison breast fed Maddie."  
  
Catherine, who had finally regained most of her faculties, managed to stammer out, "Oh. That's why. . ." She trailed off, unable to figure out what to say.  
  
"That's why I'm doing what I'm doing?" Sara asked, finishing off her friend's question. "Yeah, that's the reason. This is the only thing that'll calm Maddie down if she isn't hungry, sleepy, or wet diapered. Think of it as a pacifier, except I'm completely animate."  
  
"Oh," was all Catherine could manage. Warrick, his head still turned away, nodded his understanding.  
  
"Are you guys planning to get off the floor any time soon?" Sara asked.  
  
"Oh! Right," Catherine answered, remembering where she was. Warrick, still speechless, followed suit, though his head was still facing the same direction he had turned it when they fell to the floor.  
  
Sara, faintly amused, picked up Maddie's baby blanket that had been slung over a chair, flipped it over her shoulder, effectively covering Maddie and sat down again. Having completed this process, she asked, "Are you guys all right? Warrick, you can turn around now." He did so, though he did it slowly, as though he was walking into a trap. Sara saw him visibly relax. "So, what brings you here?" she asked pleasantly.  
  
"Nothing," both Catherine and Warrick answered simultaneously. "How did you learn about Maddie's little. . . habit?" Catherine piped up after an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Huh?" Sara said blankly. "Oh! You mean this?" she asked, gesturing to the blanket.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Um, well," Sara began, searching for the place to start, "I have to take Maddie everywhere, because I don't want to leave her by herself, so I usually put her in the baby carrier on the floor when I take a bath. She's usually good about it and I can take a quick shower. One time, she started crying hysterically, sort of like she was doing in the computer lab, and that usually indicates that she's got to eat, sleep or poop. I happened to pick her up close to my chest, and she just latched on and started sucking and she didn't seem to mind that nothing was coming out. That's the long and that short, pretty much."  
  
"Okay," Catherine responded, sounding like she wasn't quite convinced.  
  
"It's true!" Sara answered like a child trying to prove that she's right, "I even called the hospital to ask the Ann about that. She said that Alison did feed Maddie this way."  
  
"I know, I know!" Catherine said, as she threw her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Believe me, I can see why. I had a baby too, remember?"  
  
"Is there some sort of reason for that? I mean, is it normal?" Warrick asked, finally finding his voice again.  
  
"I don't know. I mean, I called Mrs. Delmont, our social worker, who also has a Ph. D. in child psychology, and she thinks that Maddie's just trying to re-establish normality by her standards. Make things like they were before her mother died."  
  
"Okay, I think I get it," Warrick answered, after mulling it over in his mind for a couple of seconds. Catherine nodded her understanding as well.  
  
"Good. I'm not a freak or anything," Sara replied.  
  
"We were never accusing you of such a thing," Catherine placated, "We were just shocked, that's all. She asleep yet?"  
  
"Yeah. After all she's been through in the last hour, it's not surprising," Sara answered, a small smile on her face.  
  
********************************************  
  
Thanks for all the reviews that everyone has sent!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!  
  
(And please review this chapter too. I do admit, the end of this chappy is kind of "out there" even by my standards, so if you don't like, please use constructive criticism! I promise the next chapter will be better and a little more down to earth!) 


	5. Family

Thanks for all the reviews!!!  
  
And to Candace and Nat, I'm really sorry, but Nick isn't going to be the dad (but if it makes you feel any better, none of the other guys are too) and the reason for that is because I'm trying to make a no-ship story, so there isn't going to be any relationships formed or anything (although I seem to be going on a slight G/C slant. Weird. . .) (sorry no other shippage, but I will get on my knees and beg you to keep reading)  
  
******************************************  
  
"Hello?" Catherine mumbled sleepily as she pressed the phone to her ear. She wondered who would call right in the middle of the day.  
  
"Catherine?" Sara's desperate voice responded. "I think there's something wrong with Maddie."  
  
"What!?" In less than a moment, Catherine was completely awake and sleep all but forgotten.  
  
"I don't know what's wrong. She won't stop crying and I've tried every possible thing I can think of. I think she's coming down with something."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"I don't know!" Sara's aggravated voice answered, "Her cheeks are swollen and they're red and warmer than normal, but she doesn't have a temperature. Is this some kind of illness I've never heard of?"  
  
"Sara, Sara, Sara," Catherine chided. "How old is Maddie?"  
  
"Um, about seven months. Why?"  
  
"Did ever occur to you that she's teething?"  
  
"Teething? Isn't it a bit early?" Sara's voice had taken on an awed quality.  
  
"No. It takes a while. They probably won't show up for another couple of months. And don't take this the wrong way, Sara, but for a woman as intelligent as you, you don't seem to know much about raising children," Catherine tried to take the sting out of the latter part of her answer.  
  
"Well, I didn't have nine months to learn about all this. It was kind of sprung on me overnight."  
  
"I know. Sorry."  
  
"And I'm not good with children to begin with," Sara continued.  
  
"Hey!" Catherine protested, "You're great with children. If you weren't, Maddie would be in a foster home by now. I know that, and you know that, you're just too nervous about the whole thing. Now if you don't have any more questions, I'd like to get some more sleep."  
  
"Oh, right. Sorry Cath."  
  
"No problem, just let me go back to bed now. Good night. . . day. . . whatever."  
  
"Bye"  
  
********************************  
  
"You look like you haven't had any sleep. Not that you do sleep," Nick observed as Sara stumbled in the door of the break room with a sleeping Maddie in her arms.  
  
"Sleep sounds really attractive right around now," Sara mumbled almost unintelligibly.  
  
"Maddie still not able to fall asleep, huh?"  
  
"No kidding. Who knew teething hurts? I don't remember it," Sara complained,  
  
"I swear, if Catherine gives me anymore stuff, she's not going to have anything left."  
  
"What?"  
  
"To date, she's given me a baby carrier, a crib with the mattress, baby clothes, a baby bag, baby car seat for later, a baby carrier you strap around yourself, numerous toys, and baby bottles," Sara summed up, "and I'm sure she'd have given me more if I hadn't begged her to stop."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Makes me feel guilty."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"You shouldn't feel guilty," Catherine replied as she stepped through the door, having heard the end of Sara's confession. "You need all the help you can get. And you didn't have nine months to plan for it, like you said."  
  
Sara would have answered, had Maddie not woken up and started fussing. As she searched through the baby bag with one hand, Sara said, "I know, but it still makes me feel guilty, like I'm stealing from you." Having found the teething ring also donated by Catherine, she handed it to Maddie, who promptly began chewing on in.  
  
Catherine was still formulating an appropriate rebuttal when Warrick walked in the door as well. "So how's the resident baby today?" he asked as Maddie twisted in Sara's arms and reached for him.  
  
"Fine," Sara responded with a grin, "She wants you to hold her."  
  
"Why?" both Nick and Warrick asked. Followed by Nick asking, "How come she never wants me to hold her?"  
  
"She can't pull on your hair, it's too short. You could always grow it," Sara suggested easily. Seeing as Maddie was attempting to grab Warrick's hand, she added, "Careful, she's added chewing on other people's fingers to her repertoire."  
  
"Teething, isn't she?" Warrick asked. "You know," he continued, "My grandmother used to say I was the child of the devil when I was a baby because I would bite on her fingers so hard." At the confused stares he received, he continued, "She didn't believe in those teething toys, so she would wrap a finger in a piece of cloth and let me go at it."  
  
"Feel free to try it out," Sara answered, "Here's a towel. Tell me if your grandmother was right."  
  
"Is that a challenge, Sidle?" Nick asked in amusement.  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
"Fine. I'm up for it. Toss me a something will you?" Warrick answered. He caught the baby towel deftly and wrapped it around his index finger. Without a second thought, he offered it to Maddie, who grabbed his hand immediately.  
  
"Oh, you are going to be in so much pain," Catherine warned. "You've never done this before, have you?"  
  
"No," Warrick conceded, "Why?" Catherine didn't have time to answer, because she and the rest of the room collapsed in laughter as Warrick winced at the pain shooting up his hand.  
  
"Don't you know, Brown, that you're not supposed to stick your fingers in something you've never seen before?" Ecklie's voice drifted in. "Aren't you all supposed to be at work?"  
  
"In case you haven't noticed, Ecklie, our shift doesn't start for another hour and a half," Sara responded with a polite tone. No one could tell if it was meant to be sarcastic or not. "Why aren't you at work?"  
  
"I needed a coffee. And anyway, I wanted to see the baby star that can make everyone fall to their knees covering their ears," he answered, referring to the episode months before when Maddie hadn't stopped crying for about an hour. "Can I hold her?"  
  
"Go ahead," Sara responded, "But if you drop her, or hurt her in any way, you'll have to deal with me. Okay?"  
  
"Deal," Ecklie answered as he held out his arms to the little girl. She readily complied and soon she was held close to him trying to grab his hand. "She's cute," he continued, "No wonder why you all coo around her when she comes in. Sidle, you sure she's not your biological baby?"  
  
"No. Did you ever see me pregnant?" Sara asked sarcastically. Everyone heard that tone that time. "What brought that up, Ecklie?"  
  
"She looks like you."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, and a bit like Stokes. . . and Sanders, I guess."  
  
While everyone in the room was intent on seeing the similarities, Maddie took this opportunity to grab Ecklie's hand and give it a huge bite. "Ahh!" he yelled, "Okay, this baby is dangerous." With that, he handed her back to Sara and tried to massage the aching digit covered in baby saliva. "I gotta get back to work." And with that, he walked out the door. They managed to restrain themselves until they were certain that Ecklie was down the hall. Peals of laughter echoed through the small room.  
  
"What did I miss?" Grissom demanded, slightly bewildered by the night shift's sudden burst of hilarity.  
  
***************************************  
  
"We just had to bump into Hank," Sara grumbled as she and Nick strapped Maddie into her car seat.  
  
"Yeah. I don't see him trying to hook up with women at a mall. He doesn't sound like that type of guy. I thought flirting over DBs was his style," Nick replied, trying to make light of the situation.  
  
"Yeah," Sara responded as she climbed in beside the car seat. "It wouldn't have been too bad if we had just said, 'hi', talked about the weather and went on our way. But no, he had to congratulate us on the birth of our baby."  
  
"Well, Ecklie did say it himself. Maddie looks like a cross between you, me, and Greg."  
  
"Right. But it was really funny how Hank apologized like he did afterwards." Sara had to admit when she thought about it in retrospect.  
  
"Yeah, that was probably the only good thing about agreeing to come with you shopping for a present for Catherine. We spent about three hours in a quarter of the mall. If I had known that it would take you that long, Sara, or I would have forced Warrick to come with us, share my pain," Nick complained. He punctuated his statement by turning on the ignition.  
  
"Oh, come on," Sara returned as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the freeway. "You're just in a bad mood because you would rather be spending time with . . . Candy? On your day off."  
  
"Mandy," Nick corrected, glancing back at the woman in the back seat.  
  
"Right, so you are just mad at me."  
  
"I might be. But I've come up with a suitable punishment for you."  
  
"Oh really? What?" Sara asked. She was answered by country music pouring out of the speakers. All she could do was groan.  
  
"Hey, Sara," Nick said as he pulled into her apartment complex's driveway ten minutes later, "Aren't those your parents?"  
  
**************************************  
  
And I leave you with a slight cliffhanger!  
  
(Again, I apologize for no N/S shippage, or any other shippage, so I tried to sort of make it up to you by making Hank think that Maddie's their baby. I know that's not the same thing, but please take it as a peace offering)  
  
Please review!! (if you love it, or hate it, or just want to say hi) 


	6. Talks of Parents

Thanks for all your reviews! And no, I'm still not going to make it a N/S shippage, no matter how much you beg me. (But don't worry! I've got another story up my sleeve that's all N/S) (  
  
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"Mom, Dad? What are you doing here?" Sara demanded as she stuck her head out of the Tahoe's door.  
  
"Well, dear," Mrs. Sidle explained, "Gilbert said that you had a baby and that we should come see you."  
  
Nick, who had walked around the SUV and beside Sara, asked her in a stage whisper, "Who's Gilbert?"  
  
"Grissom," Sara answered loud enough for her parents to hear, "but they won't call him Gil because they're convinced that it was shorted from Gilbert and that it isn't a proper name."  
  
"Well, it isn't," her mother protested. "It's quite outlandish."  
  
"And this is coming from the woman who renamed herself 'Meadow Flower' when she went hippie," Sara explained softly to Nick.  
  
Mrs. Sidle, who did not know the man who was standing beside Sara, asked in her best motherly 'are you keeping something from me' tone, "Honey, is this your husband?"  
  
Sara turned beet red, and instead of answering, dodged the question with, "Maddie's going to want to get out of the car." As she turned around Maddie wailed, wanting to get out of her restraints.  
  
Her mother and father nodded their approval. "At least she's able to be a good mother," her father noticed as he and his wife turned their attention to Nick.  
  
Nick, also uncomfortable with the scrutiny that was being directed at him, introduced himself while Sara was busy with Maddie. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sidle. I'm Nick Stokes and I work with Sara at the crime lab." Sara's parents were about to ask their questions but he beat them to the punch. "And no," he continued, "I am not Sara's husband, and I am not Maddie's father." The Sidles, minus Sara, visibly slumped at that piece of information.  
  
"Oh," Mrs. Sidle responded dejectedly.  
  
Her husband, beginning where she left off, continued, saying, "We were hoping for Sara to get married and have a baby so that we would have something to look forward to, since her brother, Mark died a while back in a car accident, and she's our only hope for a future." Nick had to fight not to grin at the melodramatic tone the older man used.  
  
"Oh," Nick replied, "My condolences."  
  
"If you really wanted to console us, you'd have married our daughter by now," Mrs. Sidle accused.  
  
"Oh. . ." Nick trailed off, unable to come up with a suitable response.  
  
"Mom!" Sara exclaimed, "How many times do you have to bring that up? You said that to Robby, and then to Michael, then to Matthew. And let's not forget Hank. Now you're doing it to Nick, and he isn't even going out with me! Remember you promised not to beg them to marry me anymore?"  
  
"Honey. . ." Mr. Sidle began, but he never finished, because Sara cut him off again.  
  
"Look, mom, dad, I know you mean well and all, but can you please, please, just drop the issue?" As if to punctuate her frustration, Maddie wailed again.  
  
As everyone but Sara covered their ears, she yelled out, "She's wet, so if you want to come in, be my guest. I have to change her diaper."  
  
"I best be going," Nick also called out, "Mandy," he stressed the name, "will be wondering where I am."  
  
"Okay," Sara answered, "Thank you!" And Nick knew that included showing her parents that they weren't in any kind of romantic relationship.  
  
"Bye!" Nick turned around long enough to see Sara's parents' shoulders slump once more in defeat.  
  
***************************************  
  
"So who's the father?" Mrs. Sidle demanded through the closed bedroom door.  
  
"What?" Sara asked distractedly.  
  
"I said, 'Who is the father?'."  
  
"Alex Carmichael. And before you ask, Alison is her mother. They both died as a result of a car accident and Alison left Maddie in my care."  
  
"Oh, I see, and may I ask why?" Mrs. Sidle asked politely, worried that her daughter might blow up at her for implying that she was unfit to raise a child.  
  
"Michael's parents, as far as I know, are both dead, and he doesn't have any siblings, and Alison's parents disowned her when she married Michael before she got her college degree."  
  
"And what does this have to do with little Maddie?" her mother inquired.  
  
"When they disowned her, Alison's parents acted like they didn't know that she existed, and they refused to even look at the pictures Alison sent them of Maddie in the mail."  
  
"How can parents be that cruel?" Mrs. Sidle wondered out loud.  
  
"By not trying to make it better, I guess," Sara replied, as she stepped through the door with a satisfied Maddie.  
  
************************************  
  
"Where's the fire?" Grissom wondered as Sara practically flew into the break room.  
  
"My place," Sara answered sarcastically. At Grissom's quizzical glance, she continued, "Why did you have to call my parents?"  
  
"I thought that you needed the support," he replied simply.  
  
"Calling in my parents is not what I would call 'support'!" Sara exclaimed in frustration.  
  
Grissom put down the forensic magazine he was reading and, looking apologetic, said, "I'm sorry. I should have asked you first."  
  
"Yes, you should have. Have you forgotten that my parents were ex-hippies, all the way down to the pot? And afterwards, when they owned the B and B they had no motivation whatsoever? They call you Gilbert because they don't think Gil is a real name, for goodness sakes! That should be more than enough proof that they would not be good 'support'!" By that time, Grissom had begun clutching the magazine to his chest, as though to protect himself from an impending attack from the outraged Sara.  
  
"I know, I know, and I'm so sorry," Grissom managed to choke out, "I'll do anything to make it up to you."  
  
"Anything?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
"Great. You can let them stay at your place for the rest of their stay."  
  
Wrongly thinking that the Sidles weren't going to be staying for more than a few days, Grissom readily agreed, saying, "Done. By the way, how long are they planning to stay?"  
  
"About a month. I'll tell them to start packing, they'll be going somewhere more spacious," Sara grinned as she pulled out her phone. Grissom sat there motionless, unable to do anything as Sara arranged for her parents to move to his place.  
  
"Why? Why? Why?" Grissom asked himself out loud, smacking himself in the head with the folded magazine, "Sara, how did you get me to agree to that? I can't stand to be in the same room as them for anymore than ten minutes."  
  
"It's called the guilt trip, Grissom. You've employed that tactic many times, remember?"  
  
His smart retort was interrupted by Warrick and Catherine who had witnessed his self-abuse walking into the room with concerned frowns on their faces. "Grissom," Warrick began as he and Catherine entered the room, "are you all right?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?" Catherine asked with a bewildered tone.  
  
"I just made a deal with the devil." And with that confusing statement, Grissom left the break room in the hope of seeking solace and peace in his office.  
  
"Huh?" was all Catherine managed to vocalize after she was floored by Grissom's very un-Grissom statement.  
  
Sara just shrugged, gathered up the stray paperwork, and headed to the filing office with Maddie and baby accessories in hand.  
  
*********************************************  
  
"Knock, knock," Nick called softly as he peeked into the office where Sara usually did her paperwork. When the usual "Come in," wasn't replied, he opened the door only to find Sara Sidle, the woman who never slept, slumped over the desk, out like a light. "I guess your mommy didn't sleep yesterday either," he said to the unusually placid baby in the playpen. In typical Maddie fashion, she held up her arms, expecting to be picked up. Nick, more than willing to comply, promptly did so, only to notice that she was beginning to have the slight frown she usually wore before an outburst. "Oh, no, baby, don't do that," he begged. Maddie didn't comply. She wailed.  
  
"Wha-?" Sara asked as she was jolted awake. "Oh, Maddie, right, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you honey." She was directing her statement at the playpen, and seeing that her daughter wasn't there, she became tense and adrenaline coursed through her veins. She jumped up right into Nick.  
  
"Whoa, hold in there, cowgirl," Nick called over the wailing child he was attempting to soothe, "It's all right, Maddie just decided that she still doesn't like me." Maddie wailed even louder to prove her point.  
  
"Nick Stokes," Sara replied, her heart rate back to normal, "You are able to sweet talk any grown woman but you can't calm a baby down? Will wonders ever cease?" She gave him a wink to show that she was joking as Maddie twisted around in his arms, sensing that her mother was near and she wanted to be with her instead on Nick.  
  
"What can I say? I'm gifted in some areas, but baby sitting is not one of them."  
  
"That's good to know. At least my parents won't be too disappointed that you're not Maddie's father." Maddie wailed again.  
  
Warrick came sprinting through the door like a man on a mission. "We can hear that baby from the floor above!" he exclaimed, "Here, give her to me. She wants to pull some hair or bite some fingers." As soon as Sara did as he instructed, Maddie quieted down, squealing with glee, as Warrick tried not to grimace too much from the pain.  
  
"Now there's someone who I wouldn't mind telling my parents is Maddie's father," Sara joked.  
  
*******************************************  
  
No! Once again I will say that there will be no N/S, W/S, or G/S or any other type of pairing, so please, review, but just know that this is meant to be a no-ship piece and don't read top deep into the last part of that chapter. . .  
  
Please review!!  
  
And I humbly apologize to everyone who wants some sort of N/S thing and don't worry iheartcsi, the G/C tangent isn't going to go too far. I promise to make it up to all of you in my next story. 


	7. Parental Meddling

"Your parents said what!?" Diana Delmont, Maddie's social worker turned Sara's friend asked.  
  
"They said that I can have the pick of the litter when it comes to the men at work."  
  
They were seated at a café just off the strip sipping coffees and comparing parenting notes while their children played with the napkins on the tables. "Pick of the litter?" Diana asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's their mission in life to get me married within the next couple of years," Sara answered simply, "And seeing as we might as well be family at CSI, they think that would be a great place to start."  
  
"Where did this all start?" Diana asked, intrigued.  
  
"When Nick brought me home after he went shopping with me for a friend's present and they were waiting at my door. Then they walked into CSI one day and caught Warrick keeping Maddie occupied while I was down at the morgue. They came back a few hours later, with visitor's IDs this time, only to find Grissom rocking her to sleep. They cornered me, and interrogated me about who I was going to pick for about an hour, and when I wouldn't tell them, they walked out on me and saw Greg and Archie playing with her. In short, they want me to decide between the five of them and get married."  
  
Diana had to fight herself from letting out a guffaw. "This is probably the first time I have seen someone hating all the attention she's getting in terms of relationships," she said.  
  
"I've only dated four guys in my entire life, and all of them were far from successes," Sara replied, hardly miffed, "And anyway, I think all five of the guys would make great fathers for Maddie, but unfortunately, polygamy is illegal." This time, Diana let out the guffaw that had threatened to surface earlier.  
  
As everyone turned to the woman who could not stop laughing, Diana managed compose herself. "You can stop watching now. The party's over," she said addressing the crowd. They readily complied. Turning to Sara, she said, "Well, look at it this way: You're doing just fine on your own. You've got a stable job, support, and friends, and you shouldn't let your parents force you into something you don't want to do."  
  
"Thanks, Diana, that-" Sara was interrupted by her cell phone going off. "Duty calls, I guess," she said, "Hello? What? Okay, I'll be right there."  
  
"What's up?" Diana asked in concern when she noticed Sara's eyes darken.  
  
"My dad just had a heart attack, he's at the hospital right now. Sorry to cut this short," Sara replied as she fished into her bag for some money.  
  
"Don't worry," Diana replied, "the coffee's on me." She made a 'shoo' gesture with her hands and smiled.  
  
"Thanks Di, I don't know what I would do without you." Giving her, and her daughter, Angela, a quick hug, Sara picked up Maddie and her belongings and started for the door, her shoulders slumped slightly in worry.  
  
"You'd get married to five guys because you couldn't decide between them!" Diana called in order to lighten Sara's mood. It worked, judging by Sara's grin.  
  
*********************************  
  
"Where's Mr. Arnold Sidle's room?" Sara asked the nurse on duty.  
  
"And you are. . ." the nurse asked as he trailed off.  
  
"His daughter."  
  
"Oh! Yes, they said to expect you! This way please," he replied pleasantly.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No problem. Cute baby by the way."  
  
"Thanks," Sara replied again, slightly flustered by everything that was happening around her.  
  
As they rounded corners, and dodged other patients, the nurse, Brian, attempted to make small talk asking, "So how long have you had your daughter?"  
  
"About three and a half months," Sara replied.  
  
Brian grinned, "I know some people lie about their children's ages to get into amusement parks or something at a cheaper cost, but I have never met anyone who said that their baby was months younger than they actually are."  
  
"Let me clarify. She's seven and a half months old, but I have only had her for about three and a half months."  
  
"Adoptive mother, huh?"  
  
"No, legal guardian as a result of parental death."  
  
"Oh, sorry," Brian answered sheepishly. "I guess I didn't ask you a really clear question, huh? 'How long have you had your baby?' You just answered the truth."  
  
"It's okay," Sara replied, "I get that question a lot."  
  
"Yeah," he replied, although he didn't sound too convinced. "Well, here's your father's room," he said as he pointed to door 509 and continued down the hall, "It wasn't too serious, so he should be fine in time."  
  
"Thanks again," Sara called to his retreating form.  
  
"No problem!"  
  
Taking a few seconds to compose herself, Sara leaned against the wall, and had a short "conversation" with Maddie. She gently pushed open the door. "Dad? How are you feeling?" she called out softly, in case he was sleeping.  
  
"I've had better days, sweet cheeks," the man replied, causing Sara to smile at the familiar nickname he had dubbed her when she was a little girl. "How's the little cupcake?" he continued, referring to Maddie, who, in his words, was so sweet, that she "just had to be a dessert item". Sara never really understood her father's obsession with renaming things that had something to do with sugar.  
  
"Just fine, Dad," Sara replied, pulled out of her reverie, "They said that the heart attack wasn't too serious."  
  
"No, thank god!" the elder Sidle replied, "Luckily that young man of yours knew the symptoms of a heart attack and called 9-1-1."  
  
At the mention of "her young man" Sara suddenly realized that her mother was no where to be found. "She's back at Gilbert's place. Sent her home, no need to hover around here, now that I'm fine," her father answered her unasked question.  
  
"Which 'young man' would it be who called the ambulance, Dad?"  
  
"Gregory."  
  
"Gregory?"  
  
"The one who calls himself Greg. There's no such name as Greg."  
  
"But that's what it says on his birth certificate," Sara protested. 'Great,' she thought, 'and I thought that the name change business of theirs would end at Grissom.'  
  
"And speaking of names," her father continued, "What is with Nicholas' and Wilbur's names anyway? At least Catherine has a normal name. And Archie is acceptable."  
  
"Nicholas and Wilbur?" Sara repeated blankly.  
  
"Yeah, Abbott and Costello. The ones that call themselves Nick and Warrick," he explained. "Even rhymes," Mr. Sidle muttered to himself.  
  
******************************************  
  
"Hello?" Sara muttered sleepily into the phone.  
  
"Sara!" Grissom called desperately into the other end, "Your mother is driving me insane!"  
  
"Really?" she asked in a tone that implied she didn't care.  
  
"Yes! At least your father was some sort of distraction when he was here, but now he's at the hospital, and she won't leave me alone. Every five minutes she asked me why I haven't proposed to you yet!" Grissom's tone had taken on a slightly crazy-man quality.  
  
"Oh?" Sara asked, still not too interested in what her boss had to say, "And what did you say?"  
  
"That I was engaged to Catherine," Grissom replied miserably. "Now your mother wants to plan Catherine's and my 'wedding'."  
  
Sara had to laugh at that. "I told you to be careful with what you say to my mother! She's in full 'must have every single person married' mode," she quipped, "Did you tell Catherine yet?"  
  
"Yeah, and I had to do it in such a way that it would sound like I actually was engaged to her, since your mother refused to leave the room."  
  
"Do you think Catherine understood you?"  
  
"No. Do you think you can call her and explain? Your mother's coming back from the washroom. I can't do it." And with that statement, Grissom hung up his end of the phone.  
  
"Okay. . ." Sara said as she hung up too. She dialed the number that had become engrained into her memory. Moments later Catherine's phone rang.  
  
"Hello?" another sleepy voice greeted Sara.  
  
"Catherine?"  
  
"Yeah. Sara?"  
  
"Yeah, listen, this will only take a while, but Grissom called you earlier and it was something along the lines of-"  
  
"-Along the lines of, 'Sweetie, Sara's mother wants to plan our wedding.' I wasn't sure if I was just having a really bad dream or not."  
  
"Trust me, you weren't dreaming. Okay, Cath, I'll hang up now and let you get some sleep."  
  
"Sleep my bum. After that news flash, I don't think I'll be able to sleep anymore," the other woman answered crankily as she hung up.  
  
Sara had just managed to find a comfortable position when her phone rang again. "What is this!?" she asked the phone. "Hello?" she asked when it was half way to her ear.  
  
"Sara? Did I wake you?" Nick's voice drifted over.  
  
"No, Grissom did that already," she answered, "Wait! Is this about my mother demanding that you marry me?"  
  
"Yes and no. She called me to demand that, yes, but when I told her that I was in a serious relationship with Mandy, she stopped asking me to marry you, but then she asked me if I would like to help with Grissom's wedding."  
  
"Oh, so you heard."  
  
"Yeah. I never knew Grissom and Catherine were an item."  
  
"They're not," Sara replied shortly, "Grissom was cornered by my mother asking him why he hasn't proposed to me yet or something and he just blurted the first thing that came to mind."  
  
"That he was engaged to Cath," Nick finished.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Okay, I'm going to let you get back to sleep. See you tonight," Nick concluded, and hung up the phone.  
  
"Okay, bye." And with that, Sara put down the phone with a decided click.  
  
She had been in bed again for no more than two minutes when the phone rang again. "What!?" she asked the person on the other line loudly. Maddie was startled out of her slumber and began to cry. "Hold on," she commanded to the person on the phone. "Sorry, baby, I didn't mean to wake you up," she said gently to Maddie as she picked her up and held her in the circle of her arms.  
  
"Sara? Is this a bad time to call?" Warrick asked worriedly on the other side.  
  
"No, you're just the third person to call in a row."  
  
"Oh, sorry, but your mom just phoned me and-"  
  
"-And she wanted to know why you haven't proposed to me or something yet. Right?"  
  
"Right. How did you know?"  
  
"She asked Grissom and Nick, and they both just phoned me. Grissom's gotten himself into a corner. He told my mom that he was engaged to Catherine."  
  
"Really?" Warrick's voice asked in awe, "I didn't know that there was something between the two of them."  
  
"There isn't. Grissom just said that from the top of his head," Sara explained, followed by Maddie's affirmative, "Gah!" "I guess Maddie thinks that our problems have just gotten bigger. I can not wait until my parents get over this phase."  
  
"That could be a problem Sara," Warrick replied.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You know when your mom asked me why I haven't proposed yet, I kind of said that it was because. . ." he trailed off, "because. . . I didn't have a ring," he said in a rush.  
  
"You said what!?" Sara screamed. Luckily for her, Maddie didn't seem too surprised at her mother's outbursts now that she was awake.  
  
"I'm sorry! I said the first thing that came to mind!" Warrick cried, trying in vain to defend himself. The phone beeped. "It's your mother on the other line. I'll try to see if I can get us out of this one." As if on cue, he hung up with an exasperated sigh.  
  
Sara groaned as she too hung up. Out of all the advice she got from everybody on all sides on how to raise a baby by herself, no one ever mentioned how to keep her mother from trying to set her up with all the men at work.  
  
"Bah?" Maddie asked.  
  
****************************************  
  
This is just a fluffy short (um no) chapter I just wanted to stick in, demonstrating how out-of-it Sara's parents can be.  
  
The end is almost near!! Don't worry there will be a N/S story in a few days! (and maybe a G/S story too if I can fit it in to the summer)  
  
Love it, hate it, or want to say hi. . .  
  
PLEASE REVIEW!!!! 


	8. Truths

Thanks for all the reviews! And on with the last chapter! (hopefully, if I don't think up something weird to make it even longer. . . )  
  
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"Sara," Warrick whispered suspiciously, "I have a way to get your parents off your back." They were in the halls of CSI walking at a clipped pace so as to keep as much distance between them and Sara's mother who had come to the lab yet again.  
  
"How?" she responded, glad that he had found a way to get them out of the mess like he promised to two weeks before.  
  
"We hide out in the broom closet for about ten minutes, and you put on the ring your mother gave me, and then we'll go 'AWOL' from work tomorrow. And say that we eloped somewhere in one of those chapels on the strip," He replied, "Grissom's already given us any time off that we may need. Your mother is driving him past normal sanity."  
  
"What about Maddie?"  
  
"Archie said he'd take care of her. Don't look now, but your mother's coming. Hold my hand and follow my lead."  
  
"Right," Sara answered, taking hold of his hand, while guiding a slightly unsteady Maddie with the other.  
  
"How are you two dears?" Mrs. Sidle asked as she passed the two, dragging Grissom and Catherine along with her. "Don't forget, Wilbur, today's the day. And then I can plan two weddings!" She added the last part gleefully, not noticing Grissom and Catherine's faces screwing up in disgust.  
  
"Mrs. Sidle-" Warrick began.  
  
"Honey, if you're going to be part of our family, you can call me Mom," she interrupted.  
  
"Okay. . . Mom, um, if you really want me in your family, could you please call me Warrick? That's my given name, and I really would appreciate it if you called me that."  
  
"But Wilbur is a much more appropriate name!" the woman exclaimed. Warrick was about to retort, when Sara caught his eye and silently warned him not to say anything. "Anyway, I'll see you two around. I have to get these two love birds," she said pointing to Catherine and Grissom who pasted fake smiles on their faces for her benefit, "to decide on what they will wear for their special day. And Wilbur, today is the day!"  
  
When she was out of earshot, Sara hissed at Warrick, "Why couldn't you have done what Nick did and said that you were in a relationship with someone else?"  
  
"Grissom did that, and look where it landed him!" Warrick hissed back, "And anyway, isn't my plan better that Grissom's? At least it doesn't involve theatrics where we have to pretend we can't agree on anything and end up breaking up."  
  
"Okay, I'll say that your plan is better than Grissom's but when you said that you didn't have a ring, I was seriously going to kill you!"  
  
"I know and I'm sorry! Coffee?" Warrick said as they entered the break room.  
  
"Ah!" Maddie replied, followed in short order by Sara saying, "Baby, you're too young for coffee!"  
  
"So how are the two other love birds today?" Nick asked with a smirk from the chair he was sitting on reading the latest car magazine.  
  
"Ready to murder you," Sara replied irritably.  
  
"Look, Sara, I know you would have rather had me say that I didn't have a ring, but I just told the truth like my mama always told me to do." Nick smirked again, reminding Sara of the cat she had as a little girl who always got the same look on its face when it caught a mouse.  
  
"Ha. Ha. Ha," Sara replied dryly.  
  
"So what are you doing now?" Nick continued as he propped his feet up on the table.  
  
"We're going to hide in the broom closet for a while," Warrick replied cryptically as he too sat down in a chair nursing his coffee. "After I finish this before Sanders drinks it all."  
  
"Just take it with you. I want to get this over with," Sara complained.  
  
"You make it sound like its an execution," Warrick commented.  
  
"Well you're not the one who has to face my parents for the next five years answering questions on how our 'marriage' is going."  
  
"Fine. Fine. Let's go."  
  
"Thank you!" Sara cried, "Nick, can you watch Maddie for a while? And if my mom asks where we are before we come back, say that you don't know, and if she comes back after we do, tell them our 'happy' news."  
  
"Sure," he replied, "Gotcha."  
  
********************************************  
  
"Maybe it was a bad idea after all to bring the coffee with you," Sara muttered as she and Warrick walked down the hall again having completed their "mission".  
  
"We could always pass it off to smelling like the broom closet," Warrick suggested. "Hey, Sara, do you think your mom will keep calling me Wilbur, even now when she thinks we're engaged?"  
  
"God I hope not. It's embarrassing."  
  
"What I've always wondered is why."  
  
"My parents have two things in common: they were hippies and smoked pot, and they have this thing with proper names, and they're infamously known for renaming anyone who doesn't seem to have one."  
  
"What are their names?" Warrick asked out of curiosity.  
  
"Arnold and . . . Meadow Flower. Flo for short."  
  
"MEADOW FLOWER?"  
  
"Yeah, she changed it on all her legal documents in the sixties and she didn't want to spend anymore money to change it back."  
  
"So what was her name before that?"  
  
"Beatrice."  
  
Warrick had to fight not to crack up. As they turned the corner, the aforesaid parent was waiting for them in the break room. "You did it!" she cried as she spotted the garish ring on Sara's finger. Since she had given it to Warrick to ensure that he proposed, they figured that they would just have to ride with it.  
  
They looked at each other. "Yeah," they replied in one voice.  
  
****************************************  
  
They had been "married" for about a year and a couple of months and were going to visit Maddie's biological grandparents and Sara's family. It surprised Warrick at how easily Sara's parents accepted the eloping story that they gave them.  
  
As they stood at the front door of the Bed and Breakfast, Maddie looked up at her mom and asked, "What I say?" in the sweetest baby voice.  
  
"You're just going to be as quiet as a mouse," Sara replied.  
  
"Yeah," Warrick added, "Just let Mommy and me explain."  
  
"Kay!" Maddie grinned.  
  
"Sugars!" Arnold Sidle greeted as he opened the doors, "How is my favorite daughter and her husband and cupcake doing?" It took everything in their power not to flinch at the titles.  
  
"Um, dad," Sara began nervously, "is mom around. I have to tell you something."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Flo! Flo!" Sara's dad called loudly as he turned, "I think our baby's pregnant!" Sara and Warrick groaned under their breaths.  
  
"What!?" Sara's mother called as well.  
  
"Mom, Dad, I'm not pregnant!" Sara cried before things could get out of hand and Warrick said something to push them into deeper trouble.  
  
"Oh," came the collective, but disappointed voices. "So then what did you want to tell us?" Mrs. Sidle asked with trepidation.  
  
"That we aren't actually married, Warrick and I," Sara explained, using her gentlest mommy voice that she usually reserved for Maddie.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yeah, um, last year when you came and called Warrick and he told you that he hadn't proposed to me yet because he didn't have a ring, he said that because he couldn't think of anything else to say. I'm so sorry mom, not telling you sooner, but we didn't know how to break the news to you," Sara explained, hoping that her parents wouldn't explode. "Here's the ring you gave Warrick," she continued, holding out the ring so that one of her parents could take it back.  
  
Mrs. Sidle took the ring, regarded it for a moment, and handed it back to Warrick saying, "Here, this is in case you decide to propose to my daughter for real next time."  
  
"Mom. . ."  
  
"No, honey, whatever you say, even if you say that you two aren't in love, I see that connection between you two. I just hope it turns out the way I have always hoped for, just like in the soap operas."  
  
"Mom, I'm sorry. . ." Sara trailed off at the sight of her mother's unshed tears and her father's expression.  
  
"So am I, honey, so am I," the other woman responded. She guided them out the door and shut it gently. The moment the door closed, loud wracking sobs could be heard from within.  
  
"Gramma okay?" Maddie, who had been quiet throughout the entire exchange, asked.  
  
"Yeah, in time, honey," Warrick replied. "Let's go see your biological grandparents, okay?"  
  
"Kay."  
  
*************************************  
  
"Sara! What a pleasant surprise!" Alison's mother, Mrs. Sheila Andrews, who had been very close to Sara despite her relationship with her daughter, exclaimed. "And is this your family?" she asked, indicated Warrick and Maddie.  
  
"Sort of, but it's complicated."  
  
"And oh, isn't this the sweetest little girl you have!" the other woman gushed. "May I?" she asked as she bent to pick Maddie up.  
  
"Be my guest," Sara replied.  
  
"Oh Sara! This baby is just adorable!" Alison's mother paused in her praise long enough to notice that Maddie bore similarities to Sara, but not to Warrick. "I'm guessing this young man isn't her father?" she queried.  
  
"No. And I'm not her mother," Sara replied, knowing that the moment of truth had come.  
  
"What?" Mrs. Andrews asked.  
  
"I'm not her mother," Sara repeated.  
  
"Then who's her mother?"  
  
"Your daughter. But Alison died in a car accident about two years ago. She and William were both killed. She left Madeline in my care."  
  
"Oh. . ." Mrs. Andrews trailed off. "That's why she stopped trying to contact me. I though that she had just given up, so I went on with my life. Why couldn't I have made things better when I had time!?" she cried emotionally.  
  
Maddie, terrified by this woman's outburst, twisted in her arms and cried out, "Mommy!" as she stretched out her arms towards Sara. Seeing her mother immobile, she implored Warrick's help, with a heart wrenching, "Daddy!" Warrick gently scooped her out of Mrs. Andrews' arms and hugged her close, giving her the sense of security she needed.  
  
By this time, Mrs. Andrews had slid down the doorframe and was crying hysterically. "You still have time. You can make things better with your grand-daughter, even if you didn't have the time with Alison. Make a new beginning."  
  
Mrs. Andrews nodded. "A new beginning," she agreed.  
  
THE END  
  
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Okay, I do realize that I went on a slight W/S slant at the end (and I'm sorry! But what can I say? I'm a W/S shipper!)  
  
Please review! And thanks to everyone who already has, you made my day and made it possible for me to keep going with the chapters!  
  
(And for the diehard N/S shippers, I have another story for you: "See How it Spreads" please read that too!) 


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